


The Last Place at the End of the World

by AlainaDowns



Category: The Last Place at the End of the World
Genre: Dystopian, F/M, Gen, Resistance fic, search out the truth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 14:10:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9552323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlainaDowns/pseuds/AlainaDowns
Summary: My contribution for Fandom Trumps HateThis short excerpt is based on my upcoming dystopia - The Last Place at the End of the World. This scene will not be seen as is in the completed story. Set in what is now known as the Carpathian mountains, a young woman finds herself alone after losing her parents to the plague. She sets out with an older man named David who preaches about the savior M and of a land of paradise for his followers. She meets Jens, a young man who reads and learns of the world before and who knows that things are not always what they seem.This excerpt is a glimpse into this story and of how just because things are a certain way doesn't always mean they're right.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bethagain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bethagain/gifts).



 

 

 

                                                                                                 The Last Place at the End of the World

                                                                                                          By Rebecca Rynecki

This is my contribution for the wonderful Fandom Trumps Hate. The bidder and I talked about different ideas and I kept coming back to this story that I've been working on and off on for the past year. It seemed to fit what she wanted and it helped me work through some things as well. I hope that you enjoy it – Rebecca Rynecki aka Alaina Downs -

 

The stars were out. Millions upon millions of them. Gitte drew a breath as she leaned against the slowly rotting barn door. She held two buckets of fresh milk from the goats in her hands. Margot wanted to make more cheese and maybe save a little for the children as a special treat.

Jens was at the fence, his rifle by his side and a lantern resting on the post. He and the other men were spaced out all along the two acres of fields that bordered the woods. Jens fixed his cap and let out a puff of cold air.

“Hi,” Gitte said.

He swerved around. “You scared me a bit.” Jens chuckled. “On goat duty tonight?”

“Ah.” Gitte lifted the buckets up. “Margot asked me. More cheese.”

“Are you going to help them?” he asked.

“Maybe.” Gitte looked out at the woods. She could barely make anything out, not even the shape of the trees. “How long do you have to stay out here tonight?”

“Till the sun rises,” Jens replied. He smiled at her, his face lighting up. “Kind of the point of night watch.”

She blushed. “Of course. No books tonight then?”

His dark brown eyes met hers. “No books tonight,” he murmured. Jens swallowed. “Do you want to keep me company now? For a little while?” He nodded at the woman walking behind Gitte. “Leisel's here. Stay?”

“Um...” Gitte nodded. “Sure. Of course.”

“Are you coming back?” Leisel asked as she reached them. “I was waiting for you,” she told Gitte.

“Yes. I'll be back.”

Leisel buttoned her thick coat up. “Put something warmer on then. It's colder than I thought it would be.” She smiled at Gitte and walked towards the fence. “It's a lot quieter too.”

Gitte nodded silently and gave a small smile to Jens before she turned back towards the castle. The castle was now a shadow of its former self, once glorious and probably enchanting. Half the stone and marble was destroyed, windows broken, and doors ripped off or burned down. There was space for them though. Rooms with beds and cots pushed together. A large library that served as the gathering place due to the two fireplaces that provided much of the warmth. The kitchen and cellar storage areas were untouched, thankfully for them.

“Margot!” Gitte called out. “I have the milk!”

“Praise M for you, darling,” Margot said. She grinned at Gitte from behind the counter. Several other men, women, and children were milling around. She eagerly took the buckets. “How is it out there?”

“Cold. I was going to...” Gitte glanced around and spied her green coat hanging off a chair. “I need this. I was going to go back.” She licked her chapped lips and pushed her long dark hair away from her face. “Unless you need me in here?”

Margot chuckled. “I don't need you in here. Bring some coffee to Jens, though.”

Gitte's cheeks reddened. “I didn't say anything about Jens.”

“You didn't have to.” Margot handed her a small mug. “It'll warm up your hands too.”

“Thank you,” Gitte murmured softly, buttoning her coat up. “He'll appreciate it.” She wrapped her fingers around the cup. “It's working already.” She sniffed, inhaling the sweet scent before heading up the rickety stairs.

Gitte shivered as she stepped back outside, the lanterns set up near the barns and fences guiding her way. She stopped at the first barn, her heart thudding loudly in her chest as the sound of unknown voices filled her ears. She hid behind the door and peeked out. The mug slipped from her fingers, shattering as it hit the floor.

“No, no...” she whispered. Her fingers shook as she fumbled in her boot for her hunting knife. It was still there. She held it in her hand and closed her eyes for a moment as she gathered her wits. She shook her head and exhaled before she started to run out.

Jens and Leisel were on their knees on the muddy ground, their arms up in the air. Jens' rifle was thrown away from him. A couple of the other men had their rifles lifted in the air towards a small group of about four people that Gitte had never seen before. They were shaking. All of them. It was a draw, guns and knifes were pointed all around.

Tears were streaming down Leisel's face as one of the men grabbed her by her hair, the muzzle of his rifle pressed against her neck.

“Let her go!” Jens shouted. “Take what you want!” His voice was hoarse. “There's food!”

The man just snickered and pressed the muzzle tighter against Leisel. “We'll get the food.”

“LET HER GO!” Gitte yelled, her knife unsheathed.

Jen's eyes widened as he saw her. “Gitte! No! Run!” he yelled, panicked. He struggled as one of the younger men moved closer to her. “Don't touch her! GITTE!”

“Let her go!” Gitte shouted. She lifted her knife up, bit her tongue as she let the knife flying straight into the chest of the man holding Leisel. He fell, pulling Leisel down with him as he went.

Gitte was knocked down and she shook, struggling to push the rifle away from her. She lifted her leg up and kicked him from behind. A couple of gunshots rang out and she started to cry as she felt him collapse on top of her. His blood soaked through his shirt onto her coat.

“Gitte! Gitte!” Jens screamed. He yanked the dead body off her and grabbed her. “You're okay. You're okay.”

Gitte's eyes darted wildly around the scene. “Where's Leisel?! Where is she?!” She unsteadily got to her feet and clambered over to where Leisel was sobbing by the fence post. “Leisel!”

“Gitte!” Leisel held her close. “Gitte...”

Jens groaned as he removed the hunting knife, the blood dripping off the edges. “Is this yours?” he asked Gitte softly.

She grunted in affirmation before grabbing it out of his hands.

“But...how...” Jens sighed, trying to catch his breath. “You did that? You had that?”

She stared at him, her eyes revealing a deep sadness, one so big that he almost had to look away. “How do you think I survived?” she whispered.

 

Her hair was wet, but it was clean, as was her face. She dunked herself in the old metal tub. She didn't even wait for the water to finish heating over the fire pit. Gitte just poured it out and scrubbed herself all over with the soap, making sure that every speck of the blood was gone.

She heard the yelling halfway down the hallway. David's door was open and she could see the golden M propped against the wall. Gitte tightened Leisel's old gray shawl around her shoulders and headed in.

Jens' face was red. He looked as though he didn't even attempt to bathe, sleep, or do anything. He was still wearing the clothes. They were torn in places and dotted with now dried blood.

David sat in one of the chairs next to the M. He touched it a couple of times as if he was giving himself reassurance. Moira was standing with Jens and Gitte could make out the tears falling down her cheeks.

“Gitte!” Moira exclaimed. “We were so worried!” She rushed over, embracing Gitte close. “Are you okay?”

“I'm as okay as I can be,” Gitte replied. She searched Jens' face. He was stoic, his eyes never leaving her. “My coat is probably ruined.”

“We'll find you a new coat,” Moira whispered gently in her ear.

Jens looked back at David. “It was Gitte,” he said.

David glanced up. “That's ridiculous,” he muttered. “We gave you guns for the watch for a reason. We haven't had any kind of attack in a long time.”

“And do you remember what happened the last time we got attacked?” Jens snarled. “How many people did we lose? The world is a mess, David! You keep us on this journey and every time I ask you to let us stay someplace safe, you say that's not what M wants.”

“It's not,” David said firmly, his hand reaching out for the M once more.

“They could've killed Leisel,” Jens continued. “They had a gun pointed at her. None of us were going to lose Leisel! Did you want us to lose her?!”

David's head whipped up. “Of course not.”

“Jens!” Moira exclaimed. “How could you say such a thing?”

“Because I have begged, Moria. You know how long I have begged. Every time we have found something like a home, something with some kind of hope, something safe...I have asked you!” Jens exclaimed.

“You are not bound,” David said. “You can leave anytime you want to.”

Jens sniffed. “I've told myself that over and over. But, I can't.” He rubbed the tears away from his eyes. “I can't.”

“It is the will of M for us to be on this path,” David told him gently. “You know that for every statue we find that it is M speaking to us. He is leading us, Jens. We are on the right path.”

“We almost lost Leisel,” Jens said. “We could have lost her. Gitte saved her. Gitte probably saved all of us, and why? Because she keeps a damn hunting knife on her!” Jens shook his head. “And she has no fear. And she cares. She's only been with us for months and she's willing to put her own damn life on the line!”

Gitte sat next to Moira on the couch and silently watched the exchange.

“Don't you want your people to be safe, David?” Jens asked quietly.

“Of course I do. That's why I'm doing what I'm doing now. Why I am bringing the word of M around. He's guiding us to the true place, the place where we will all be safe!” David insisted. “We always have this argument every time something like this happens.”

“Because I don't want this to happen!” Jens exploded. “People are dying! There are wars going on everywhere because there's always some-”

“We save them!” David yelled so loudly that Gitte visibly flinched. “I bring them to the word of M. We make things right!”

“We do, except that we don't. M didn't make Gitte keep a hunting knife on her. M didn't stop those men from attempting to kill Leisel and probably a lot more people.”

David looked at Gitte. “Why did you have a hunting knife on you?”

“I've always had one on me,” she replied. “My parents made sure of it. My mother told me that people are good, but that there's things that happen. They lose someone, they get hurt, nobody helps them...something. And then sometimes that they don't care if others get hurt. My parents didn't want me to be one of those who got hurt.”

“Haven't you felt safe here?” Moira asked.

“I...” Gitte hesitated. “I've been alone.”

“We need to stay here, David,” Jens pleaded. “We would be stronger as a group if we just stayed. If we just built a life here. We can still help people, we can take people in here. We can perhaps not lose anybody else as we've done. You want to tell people about M, you can tell them from here. It's a good place, David. We need to be given a chance to show that.”

“It's not my plan,” David said.

Jens shook his head. “We are so unprepared, David. We just have your word to go on, that's it. What happens when that stops being enough for us? If we stay, we strengthen who we are as a group and we can really, truly help.”

Gitte stood up. “I wouldn't mind staying here. We could build some more. Maybe some cottages along the property? We could really do a lot here and I think-”

“That's not the plan of M, Gitte,” David cut in. “I must follow what M wants.”

“Maybe M has a new plan?” she offered.

“I love you, David,” Jens said. “You know I love you. I've known you since I was fifteen, but all this moving, this uncertainty, it doesn't help us. I've said this to you every time.”

David turned towards Gitte. “You could always stay here. I've never forced anybody to follow me.”

“I know.” Gitte licked her lips, biting on the bottom one. “But, I think you'll need me, won't you? If something like this happens again...won't you need me out there?”

David paled. “It's not going to happen.”

Jens looked at him sadly. “But, it does...every time. And I'll talk to you about it again and again.”

 

 

Gitte stopped by the woodpile where Jens was splitting the larger pieces for the fireplaces. “You're angry,” she said.

He sighed and wiped his brow. “I've been following David since I was a teenager. I've seen a lot with him. He's not a bad man, Gitte. He's just too obsessed with this idea of what M has presumably told him that he can't see what's happening here and now around him.”

“He wants to do good, Jens,” Gitte pointed out.

“He does. I know, but we can't really do good by going from place to place, not getting to know the people, to make an impact where we are. He just thinks that we should keep traveling and picking up people. He's not the only solution to what's going on around us, Gitte,” Jens replied. “Those people who attacked us last night are not bad people. You yourself even said that your mother told you that sometimes people get hurt.” He paused, setting the ax down. “Look, there's only so many few safe, nice places in the world. We can do more by settling, making a life, getting to know the people and growing from there. People are scared.”

“I know! I'm one of them!” she exclaimed.

“But, you didn't hesitate last night. You stepped right in there and you helped. Can't you see how much good you could do if we really worked with others and tried to make things as best as we could?” Jens sat down on the grass, resting his back against the tree stump. “Every time...” He shook his head. “I think this is a good place, Gitte. And I try to get him to see it, what he could do, how he could help if he could just focus.”

Gitte nodded. “I know.”

He sighed. “It's never going to reach him...is it? No matter what I say. It's all about M with him, not about doing good where we can.”

She sat down next to him. “I'll help you.” She looked straight ahead, resting her hands on her knees. “I don't know how but...I can help.”

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading this story and for the bidder for suggesting the prompt. I really enjoyed writing it and I think now more than ever, we need people who want to do right, who want to help, and who search out the truth.  
> -Rebecca Rynecki aka Alaina Downs-


End file.
